Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $55.33 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.17.

LAZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Lazard by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,170 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 133,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,851,000 after purchasing an additional 21,250 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 219,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,318,000 after purchasing an additional 48,956 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Lazard by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Up 0.1 %

LAZ opened at $44.98 on Thursday. Lazard has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.76.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.